African Studies

Faculty List

Undergraduate Advisor: 416-287-7184 Email:  afs-undergrad-advisor@utsc.utoronto.ca
African Studies aims to widen students' knowledge and experience of the second largest and, in some respects, most complex continent, its peoples and their diasporas. It encourages students to engage with and explore ideas and material concerning African histories, cultures, economies, political systems, artistic expression, and systems of belief. In many program courses Africa, its peoples and their cultures are situated in relation to the wider world. The study of historical interconnections with Europe, Asia, and the Americas highlights Africa's central role in world history and processes of globalization. Throughout the program students explore the exciting recent developments in our understanding of African civilizations, thought, political and religious systems, as well as histories of slavery, colonialism, racism, and nationalism. A number of courses emphasize African, Caribbean, and African-American cultural and artistic responses to modernity, racism, and liberation, as well as struggles for security and development. The program as a whole challenges students to think in new innovative directions about Africa across the disciplines and to reject preconceived myths and stereotypes.  Students with an African Studies minor will gain strong skills in critical analysis, research, writing, and communications. The program aims to go further to encourage an awareness of the relationships between the production and application of knowledge and the wider forces of global change, as well as a love of intellectual challenges. Students who intend to complete the African Studies program should include AFSA01H3 in their first year course selection. Certain elective courses (e.g. ENGD08H3, ENGC73H3, (ENGD63H3)) have non-African Studies prerequisites. This may require that you take more than 4.0 credits to complete the program. If you are interested in taking one of them, check the prerequisites carefully before deciding what courses to select.

For updates and detailed information regarding African Studies please visit the Historical and Cultural Studies website at: www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~hcs/

African Studies Programs

MINOR PROGRAM IN AFRICAN STUDIES (ARTS)

Undergraduate Advisor: 416-287-7184 Email: afs-undergrad-advisor@utsc.utoronto.ca

Program Requirements
Students must complete four full credits, as follows:

1. AFSA01H3 Africa in the World: An Introduction
   AFSB01H3 African Worldviews
2. 1.0 credit from the following (students should check course descriptions for prerequisites):
   AFSA03H3 Experiencing Development in Africa
   ANTB05H3 Culture and Society in Africa
   AFSB50H3 Africa in the Era of the Slave Trade
   AFSB51H3 Twentieth Century Africa
   AFSC30H3 Language and Society in the Arab World
3. 2.0 credits from the list below; at least 1.0 credit must be at the C- or D-level (students should check course descriptions for prerequisites):
   AFSB50H3 Africa in the Era of the Slave Trade (if not used in Requirement 2)

   AFSB51H3 Twentieth Century Africa (if not used in Requirement 2)
   AFSC30H3 Language and Society in the Arab World (if not used in Requirement 2)
   ANTB05H3 Culture and Society in Africa (if not used in Requirement 2)
   (ANTC06H3) African Cultures and Societies II: Case Studies
   CLAC05H3 Environment, Society and Economy in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt
   ENGB17H3 Contemporary Literature from the Caribbean
   ENGC51H3 Contemporary Arab Women Writers
   ENGC72H3 Contemporary Literature from Africa
   ENGC73H3 Rap Poetics (formerly ENGD63H3)
   ENGD08H3 Topics in African Literature
   (ENGD61H3) James Baldwin, the African American Experience, and the Liberal Imagination
   FREA01H3 Language Practice I
   FREA02H3 Language Practice II
   FREB01H3 Language Practice III
   FREB02H3 Language Practice IV
   FREB35H3 Francophone Literature
   FREC47H3 Special Topics in Linguistics: Pidgin and Creole Languages
   FRED12H3 Advanced Topics in Literature: Haitian Migrant Literature in Québec
   GGRB28H3 Geographies of Disease
   GGRC25H3 Land Reform and Development
   HISC52H3 A History of Ethiopia
   HISC55H3 War and Society in Modern Africa
   HISD50H3 Southern Africa, 1652-1910
   HISD51H3 Southern Africa: Colonial Rule, Apartheid and Liberation
   HISD52H3 East African Societies in Transition
   LGGA40H3 Introductory Modern Standard Arabic I
   LGGA41H3 Introductory Modern Standard Arabic II
   LGGB42H3 Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic I
   LGGB43H3 Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic II
   LGGB45H3 Modern Standard Arabic I for Students with Prior Background
   POLA90H3 Politics, Corruption and Violence
   VPHB50H3 Africa through the Photographic Lens
   VPHB65H3 Exhibiting Africa: Spectacle and the Politics of Representation
   WSTC13H3 Women, Gender and Islam

Note: Not all courses in Requirement #2 and #3 are offered every year.

African Studies Courses

AFSA01H3    Africa in the World: An Introduction

An interdisciplinary introduction to the history and development of African Studies with Africa's place in the wider world a key theme. Students critically engage with African and diasporic histories, cultures, social structures, economies, and belief systems. Course material is drawn from Archaeology, History, Anthropology, Geography, Literatures, the Arts and Women's Studies. Exclusion: NEW150Y
Breadth Requirement: History, Philosophy & Cultural Studies

AFSA03H3    Experiencing Development in Africa

This experiential learning course allows students to experience first hand the realities, challenges, and opportunities of working with development organizations in Africa. The goal is to allow students to actively engage in research, decision-making, problem solving, partnership building, and fundraising, processes that are the key elements of development work.
Same as IDSA02H3 Prerequisite: AFSA01H3 and IDSA01H3
Exclusion: IDSA02H3
Enrolment Limits: 25
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

AFSB01H3    African Worldviews

An interdisciplinary introduction to African and African diasporic religions, philosophies, and oral and written cultures.
Exclusion: (AFSA02H3)
Recommended Preparation: AFSA01H3
Breadth Requirement: History, Philosophy & Cultural Studies

AFSB50H3    Africa in the Era of the Slave Trade

An introduction to the history of Sub-Saharan Africa, from the era of the slave trade to the colonial conquests. Throughout, the capacity of Africans to overcome major problems will be stressed. Themes include slavery and the slave trade; pre-colonial states and societies; economic and labour systems; and religious change.
Same as HISB50H3
Prerequisite: Any modern history course, or AFSA01H3
Exclusion: HISB50H3, (HISC50H3), HIS295H, HIS396H, (HIS396Y)
Breadth Requirement: History, Philosophy & Cultural Studies

AFSB51H3    Twentieth Century Africa

Modern Sub-Saharan Africa, from the colonial conquests to the post-colonial era of structural adjustment. The emphasis is on both structure and agency in a hostile world. Themes include conquest and resistance; colonial economies; gender and ethnicity; religious and political movements; development and underdevelopment, post-colonial conflicts, as well as cultural achievements.

Same as HISB51H3
Exclusion: HISB51H3, (HISC51H3), HIS396H, (HIS396Y)
Recommended Preparation: AFSA01H3 or AFSB50H3 or HISB50H3 strongly recommended.
Breadth Requirement: History, Philosophy & Cultural Studies

AFSC30H3    Language and Society in the Arab World

An examination of the relationship between language, society and identity in the Arab world, with special emphasis on North Africa. Topics include: colonial and postcolonial periods; the role of Arabic in pan-Arab identity; multilingualism, class and education; ideologies of gender and language; and ethno-linguistic revitalization among Berbers in North Africa.
Prerequisite: Any B-level course in African Studies, Linguistics, History, or Women and Gender Studies
Enrolment Limits: 50
Breadth Requirement: Arts, Literature & Language